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It is often hard to put down that first line on a piece of paper. I thought it even more so when working on black paper. It really just comes down to drawing a line. I used General's white and black charcoal pencils on Canson Black Drawing Paper for my recent racoon and owl works. I am using the "up close" racoon to demonstrated how I created this work.

Start with sharp pencils, I usually will have several ready because this type of work dulls the pencils quickly. To make the line that works for fur, hair and feathers pull the stroke in the direction you want the smallest point. It will work going left, right, up or down. Pencil down is the larger starter point, pull and gently allow your hand to raise off the paper. 

If you are working on a flat surface place a tissue under the part of your hand that would touch the paper. This keeps the oils from your skin transferring onto the paper. As your image progresses the tissue can be placed on top of the drawing to keep your hand from smearing it and protect from oils. 

Line Sketch                                                               Notan Study

From line to Notan and back. I do sketches and studies before I start the actual work. If you have ever taken a class with me you have heard and will hear again, look at the big shapes. Next comes, look at the lights. Using the black paper the darks are already there for you and mid-tones will be developed with the lights. 

Notan is a Japanese word which means: harmony in the balance of darks and lights. The light and the dark create the composition. The positive and negative shapes, without one the other does not exist. 

Do a line sketch, fill in the sketch with the lights that you see, no details, look for the lightest areas. Do not draw a line where there is none. Allow the black to fill the space and complete the composition. This technique can be done for everything, landscapes, portraits, and architectural works. This will help you see lights and darks in color as well as black and white. Try it and let me know how it works. 

                                                                      Step 1. Sketch                                                                                            

Moving onto the actual creation of the artwork. Going back to the sketch. Look for the lights, look at the large shapes. Using white charcoal you can give yourself guidelines make a big oval, circle or rectangle. Look at the proportions, and adjust at this beginning stage. Once you are happy with the basic design and composition, starts pulling out the lights using line work. Used the kneaded eraser to remove excess guidelines.

                                                                                              Step 2. Look for the lights 

Keep your charcoal pencils sharp. Observe the direction the fur is going and the length of the fur.

                                                                                                     Step 3. Refining details.

In step 3, the top of the head has a lot of light but got a little too bright and became flat. A kneaded eraser can be used to gently pull off some of the excess charcoal. Do not rub off the white area but gently lay the flat kneaded eraser on the white area and press lightly. Check and repeat as needed. This is where the mid-tones come into play. The mid-tones are exactly what they sound like mid way between light and dark. In this black and white work, you are not creating grey mid-tone but just a softer, lighter white. Black charcoal pencils can be used to work in-between the white lines. I use a HB General's black charcoal pencil, again with a sharp point. This is a minimal step, the black paper is already there to create the black. Use the black charcoal pencil just to define the line work. This step is a play between black and white, using mostly white to adjust and define. 

"up close" 

On the finished work I adjust the top of the head, added more white to those areas that needed to be brighter. I used the kneaded eraser to clear up any small flakes of charcoal from the black paper, signed and framed the piece. It was given to my husband as a gift. He had requested I not sell this piece. 

If you want to use this image as a practice piece I ask that you do not enter it in shows or sell it as your own work. It is considered a work create in a class or with the help of an instructor. If you have additional question please email me and I will be happy to answer as best I can. I would like to see any works that you create using this technique. 

The next blog post will address how to seal charcoal drawings so they can be framed without glass. 

Continuing with some of the "How do you do that" questions in creating fur, feathers, or hair in wildlife. Each persons hand, in how they put down a line, a stroke of paint, is unique to them. My line will be different from yours but the technique can be the same. 

In creating the latest zebra pieces, I started with coffee stained paper. The paper for "Looking to the Sun" is a hand made paper and more fibers can we seen in the paper. This affects how the pastel adheres to the paper. I started the under painting using ultramarine and dark purple pastel pencils. This helps to establish the darks and shadows. 

Creating the mane I worked doing dark layers first, leaving space in between for lighter layer. The same was applied for the stripes on the zebras body and face but using a shorter stroke. You would think you would go in with white next. I prefer to build up some of the under colors, there was yellow, pink and shades of blue. I used pastel pencils for all of these layers. I used a cream colored pastel pencil, to start the white stripes and as a bending tool.  

After establishing the under painting, gently layer white over the other colors and along side the darks. I continue adding layers to the dark blue/purple areas using browns and blues to build up the darks. 

                                                                                               Sketch & fill in dark areas.

Towards the end of the piece, I use black HB charcoal pencils with a sharp point. They are not so much to add color but to add direction to the fur and mane. This is when you sculpt a bit into a drawing or painting. Especially on handmade papers. Drawing the line through the colors both lights and darks creates the flow of the fur, it help develop the form on the animal. My last step is to use a soft white pastel stick to pull out the highlights. I use white charcoal pencils to run lines through the soft pastels to blend it into the painting. 

I hope this has been helpful in explaining my technique for drawing/painting wildlife fur and manes. Feathers are created with this same process. If you have additional questions please contact me at [email protected]